Surplus milk

Too much milk on the market

By Culinate staff

January 7, 2009

As the New York Times reported last week, the nation’s dairy industry is suffering from the recession in the form of oversupply. And it’s not just Americans who aren’t buying enough milk anymore; it’s the entire planet, which had become a major customer of the U.S. dairy industry before the economic downturn hit the globe. Stepping in to buy the oversupply of powdered milk (and maybe cheese soon, too): the U.S. government, which is buying and stockpiling the excess.

No word in the Times on whether the organic-dairy industry is also suffering from an oversupply — although one trade publication reports that organic dairy products are still selling well in stores.